I've always been fascinated by different cultures.
As a child, born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, I was brought up as a Roman Catholic (my Mum is a good Irish girl from Cork after all) I went to Catholic Schools and went to mass every Sunday. (Now I'm pretty much lapsed and only go to mass on Christmas Day).
I was very lucky in that, even though Religious Studies, as it was called, was compulsory, our teachers were very liberal and we were encouraged to question everything.
We did study different faiths in a very rudimentary way. But more importantly we mixed with friends of my parents who were Jewish, Indian and Afro Carribbean.
I was always particularly fascinated by Indian objects, we had a few around our home and my Dad was I suppose influenced by the fascination with India as a result of the Beatles.
This year - I'm going to actively explore some of the main faiths via special holidays and hopefully through them discover more about the symbolism in some of the exotic items that I sell.
I hope you'll enjoy the journey!
Alison